Never Hike Alone 2

This film can easily be placed in the Friday the 13th franchise as an official film. It plays that well. The Kills are fantastic, plenty of gore. You can tell the filmmakers are fans and not just putting out a cheap slasher. They care for the characters, they care for the story and they care about continuing Jason, who has been in limbo since the lawsuits. I can't speak highly enough about these NHA films. I am a huge F13 fan and these films have supplied the entertainment I crave in seeing Jason back on screen. A well-done slasher with good acting, an alumni cast and a great story. The gore is plenty and Jason is intimidating and scary once again. Jason is back and it is thanks to these filmmakers who are fans first.

Plot

20 years after the last sighting of Jason Voorhees, Crystal Lake resident and former victim Tommy Jarvis still lives with the haunting notion that Jason will one day return.

Cast

Vincente DiSanti returns to direct and Thom Mathews takes the lead this time around.

Verdict

Let me be clear, Never Hike Alone was an incredible fan film! A love letter to the fans from DiSanti and I was suitably impressed. However, after watching his very disappointing Never Hike in the Snow (2020) and the non-DiSanti two Friday the 13th Vengeance movies I was not only burned out but also very much doubting that Never Hike Alone 2 would deliver.

Was I right? Meh, kind of on the fence.

The first thing that hits you about Never Hike Alone 2 are the production values and the cinematography, from the opening shot by the lake it's stupendous and the latter puts most Hollywood movies to shame.

The trouble is unlike the first movie the sequel lacks consistency. Inconsistent cast, inconsistent visuals (Some in the light look quite bad), inconsistent writing and even the finale raised an eyebrow.

Jason himself didn't look quite right, in the dark great but in the light he looked hokey and what's with the creators obsession with Voorhees using a bow and arrow!? Seriously, it looks stupid stop it. It'd be like Michael Myers using a shotgun, it just doesn't sit right.

Never Hike Alone is a valiant effort but based on this and Never Hike in the Snow perhaps the first movie should have been a stand alone.

Rants

You know what bugged me the most about Friday the 13th Vengeance & its sequel? The shilling, the ridiculous amount of same worded reviews from one hit activity profiles. If your movie is good then let it speak for itself, people aren't stupid..........well not all of them and we can see straight through your desperate efforts at telling the world what you've made is good.

Why do I bring that up on here? Because DiSanti or those close to him have done the same thing here. At time of writing every single review bar one is fake, from a profile with only that review as activity. Don't be fooled, you're being lied to. Weird, the wordings are very similar to the Vengeance ones as well.....

Breakdown

Stunning visuals in places Feels loyal to the subject matter Actors seem to be phoning it in Ropey finale Shilled badly.